Judge denies Glenn Ford compensation

Gannett file The state doesn?t want to pay Glenn Ford compensation for the almost 30 years he spent sentenced to death. Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times What does he hope to accomplish in the days he has left? â??More life. I would like to live a little longer thatâ??s all,â? said Glenn Ford. Glenn Ford in New Orleans.(Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times)Buy Photo

A Caddo Parish district court judge has denied a compensation request from exonerated death row inmate Glenn Ford, saying while he didn’t have the blood of the murder victim on his hands he was involved in two lesser crimes.

District Judge Katherine Dorroh, in her nine-page ruling released Friday afternoon, concluded that Ford, 65, now living in New Orleans, knew the robbery of jewelry Isadore Rozeman on Nov. 5, 1983 was going to occur and did nothing to stop it, and he attempted to destroy evidence by selling items taken in the robbery and attempting to find buyers for the murder weapon used by those he implicated in the murder.

Ford was released from prison on March 11, 2014 after spending almost 30 years on death row. The Caddo District Attorney’s office filed a motion vacating his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence after receiving “credible evidence” that Ford was not present nor did he participate in the robbery and murder of Rozeman.

Ford filed a petition in December seeking compensation that Louisiana law allows for wrongfully convicted and imprisoned people meeting statutory requirements, which includes proving factual innocence of the crime for which he was convicted. The Attorney General’s office filed a motion opposing Ford’s request.

“From the outset, the Attorney General’s office has met its responsibility. We are grateful that the court has affirmed our position that Louisiana law prohibits an award in this matter. As the court stated, it is bound to follow the law as written, and so is this office,” communications director Aaron Sadler said in an email to The Times.

Ford will appeal.

“We are disappointed with the court’s decision today denying Glenn Ford compensation for the 30 years he spent on death row for a crime the state of Louisiana agrees he did not commit. In its denial, the court adopted the state’s argument opposing compensation. The ruling inflated the fact that Mr. Ford knew the people who committed the crime and insinuated that Mr. Ford was more involved in the crime than the facts in the record indicate. This is the latest in a series of great injustices that Mr. Ford has suffered over the last 30 years,” attorney Kristin Wenstrom of the Innocence Project New Orleans told The Times.

Ford’s pleas of innocence have been ignored and the state fought to execute him. Only after learning of corroborating evidence did the state take action to release him, Wenstrom said.

“Then in a cruel twist, the state opposed him being compensated for what everyone agrees was an appalling injustice. In his last days, we can only hope Mr. Ford finds some joy in the company of his friends and family because it is clear he will not receive any sort of relief from the state of Louisiana,” she added.

Ford and three other men were originally arrested and indicted on murder and armed robbery charges; however, only Ford went to trial. He was convicted in December 1984 and sentenced to death.

Dorroh said it is not “believable” that Ford did not know the items he pawned were stolen. He failed to prove by “clear and convincing evidence that he was factually innocent,” Dorroh said. “He committed many crimes, including possession of stolen goods, accessory after the fact to armed robbery, principal to armed robbery and perhaps obstruction of justice.”